As an HR leader, what do you think, how evolving is the role of HR during COVID Times? Is it crucial for business continuity?

Yes, HR undoubtedly plays a very crucial role in an unpredictable environment. The lockdown owing to coronavirus outbreak has transformed HR from being a mere support function to a department taking centre stage in an organisation. It has brought to the forefront the importance of implementing effective HR strategies to drive the company’s overall ecosystem.

HR professionals are keeping a close tab on the changing business landscape and strategically partnering with business functions. The HR leaders across organizations have the responsibility of keeping employees, partners as well as the end-consumers safe and motivated. As these unprecedented days continue, HR is expected to respond quickly with a comprehensive solution catering to both long term and short-term goals.

Having a one-on-one conversation with the employees to understand their difficulties and concerns has now become the need of the hour. For smooth business continuity, HR professionals also are addressing critical areas of change such as managing flexible work arrangements, employee communications to increase awareness, addressing employee concerns on workplace policies, implementing preventive measures, and reviewing current welfare policies ensuring the business continues as normal.

What is the major initiative you were taking to keep the morale of all the employees up?

At AGS Transact Technologies, employee satisfaction is of paramount importance. During these testing times our employees are working with great zest and vigour, which has led to seamless business continuity for our partners and clients. To recognise their commitment towards the country & organisation, we decided to have ‘no salary cuts’ across levels. Also, appraisals were conducted, and eligible employees were given increments & promotions as per the performance matrix. All the members of our field staff who reported to their place of work during lockdown were also incentivised.

How effectively are you utilizing technology in your company and the role of technology during the disruption?

During these testing times, technology has become the heart and essence of every business. With remote working becoming the new normal, technology plays a significant role in ensuring improved communication and in keeping colleagues, partners, and other stakeholders motivated. Within our company, most of the team meetings as well as the brainstorming sessions are being held over various video conferencing platforms. This has ensured business continuity without any hindrance.

On the learning and development front as well, we have moved to a more virtual and gamified system that has also enabled self-paced learning. Amidst all this, we have ensured that mobile compatibility is woven into these technologies for ease of usage.

Going ahead, as HR leaders, it is our onus to be open to transformation in order to equip the workforce and partners with required technologies. This will enhance the engagement levels ensuring the seamless function of businesses and keep the employees in best of their spirits even during difficult times.

What is the future of learning and development and training?

Learning and Development is a necessary tool, especially during such uncertain situations. It is very important to cater to learning and development (L&D) for both working environments – brick & mortar and remote working. Adaptive learning and analytics are on a rise as these two factors are very crucial for an employee to know and understand how to map his own productivity. Therefore, usage of more digital platforms, self-paced learning, micro-byte learning & assessment of knowledge & its application and using a combination of in-person and virtual tools would all find more prominence in the near future.

At AGSTTL for instance, we have our e-learning portal, Digital Smart Learning System, which enables our colleagues to access the modules assigned to them. These modules impart training and the same is evaluated at the end of every course by the means of a test.

What were the new initiatives taken by your company to engage with the employees working from home in order to boost their morale?

AGSTTL’s core belief has always been – ‘Stronger together’ and it has strengthened further during these unprecedented times. Every action we take, every policy we implement reflects that. We understand that these times could give rise to anxiety and demotivate employees to a certain extent. To address this, we have conducted motivation sessions by renowned life coaches & inspiring orators. Additionally, we have created a special helpline number for our employees working from home to extend the immediate support.

How are you addressing the skill gap and improving the engagement at your organization?

Our focus is on keeping our workforce more engaged and involved in a remote working environment through digital platforms. We recognize the significance of human connection and hence are consistently finding ways to facilitate collaborations, engagement and interactions. Thus, after a careful assessment of the current situation, we frequently hold interactive virtual chat sessions to engage with and address any questions & apprehensions from our 13,000+ employees pan India. We are leveraging the extended lockdown period to impart cross-functional virtual training programmes to equip our workforce with a fair understanding of overall business segments. Additionally, we have undertaken an employee satisfaction survey to get a clear understanding of our employee requirements during this period and henceforth are working towards it.

One powerful quote that is keeping you upbeat and inspired?

‘‘Be STRONG when you are WEAK

BRAVE….

When you are SCARED

And HUMBLE when you are VICTORIOUS.”

– Quote by Michelle Moschetti